Licklider said she's noticed the trend at her own practice, Licklider Family Dentistry on Second Street in Marietta. She believes a variety of factors are in play.
"I attribute it to more kids drinking pop and sweet tea and Gatorade, sports drinks, at an earlier age," she said.

At Nationwide Children's Hospital in [fluoridated] Columbus, Ohio, chief of dentistry Dr. Paul Casamassimo has observed worse than that. "We've had kids in there between 2 and 3 years of age where all 20 of their teeth need to have something done to them," he said.

Casamassimo said other theories involve children from low-income families having weaker teeth because of poor diets and even a mother's high-sugar diet during pregnancy "programming" her child to crave more sugar. The exact cause of the increase has not been determined, he said.